Papa
by HorklumpFondler
Summary: It's been 3 years since Elsa became queen, and she's been working hard to see that the kingdom runs smoothly. That's why Anna and Kristoff - now engaged - are determined to give Elsa a well-deserved vacation from her royal duties. But when someone they thought was long gone reappears in Arendelle, everything and everyone is thrown into disarray - especially Elsa.
1. Chapter 1

"She's not going to go."

"Yes, she is. You'll see."

"I know your sister, and I'm telling you that she isn't going to go. In fact, I'll bet you ten kroner."

"Ten? Ten is nothing. Make it forty!"

Dawn had broken in the kingdom of Arendelle, and a sliver of sun was just beginning to peep over the horizon. Its pale orange light streamed in through the tall windows of the palace's easternmost corridor, illuminating two figures as they tiptoed down the hall: those of a petite, slender young woman and a broad-shouldered, huskily-built man.

"Elsa needs a vacation, Kristoff. She's been planning this for weeks," said the woman, who was clutching a flickering candle in a brass holder. Her pace was slow and careful, and she was clearly trying to walk without making any noise, yet there was a liveliness to her gait all the same. With each step she took, her strawberry-blond braids bounced lightly against her chest, as though they longed for her to set down her candle-holder and break into a run – or at least to walk a little bit faster.

"No, Anna, _you've_ been planning this for weeks," corrected the man, Kristoff, who had yellow-blond hair and was easily a head taller than his companion. He moved with lumbering, weighty steps, the bulk of his upper body shifting slightly from side to side as he made his way down the corridor. "And I'm not sure that Elsa really thinks she needs a vacation – she only said she'd take one to stop you from pestering her."

"I wasn't _pestering_ her," said the woman, Anna, in a dignified voice. "I just think she works too hard, and I made sure to let her know."

"At every available opportunity," chuckled Kristoff. "Anyway, I'm glad you got her to agree to a holiday. I'm just not convinced that she's actually going to take it."

"Of course she is," said Anna. "Her trunk is packed and she's all ready to go. As soon as we get to her chamber, I'll show yo-ooops!" The toe of Anna's embroidered slipper caught on a wrinkle in the carpet and sent her pitching forward. She managed to right herself, but not before a small amount of melted wax sloshed over the side of the candle-holder's base and landed on the rug with a soft, liquid _plop._

Kristoff grinned. "Nice going." He nudged the puddle of wax, which was already beginning to harden, with a leather-booted toe.

Anna looked embarrassed for a moment, but her confident expression quickly returned. "We'll leave it there for Olaf to check out. You know how fascinated he is with anything that melts," she said.

"Speaking of Olaf and melting, is he going to be okay with Elsa gone? Is his snow cloud going to hold up without her around?"

"She says it will."

Kristoff nodded. "Good. I wouldn't want anything to happen to the little guy, even if not having to listen to his chatter would be a definite advantage."

Anna smiled. "There are other advantages to having my sister gone for two weeks," she said, leaning lightly against Kristoff's chest.

The big man wrapped his arms around Anna and nuzzled the loose strands of reddish hair at the back of her neck. "Like finally getting to sleep in the same bedroom?" he whispered into her ear.

Anna rubbed her face against his stubbly cheek. "Yes. Although I think we should be able to do that even when she IS here. After all, I have this now." She held out her left hand, her fingers splayed apart to display a spectacular engagement ring: a six-sided white crystal set into a band of pure gold. Anna had squealed out loud when Kristoff had shown her how it glowed and changed colour whenever she held it up to a source of light. He had refused to tell her where he had obtained the crystal, and for a while Anna had been unable to figure out where it could possibly have come from – until she remembered that he had been raised by a family of trolls. Crystal magic was just one of their many specialties.

"I do too, but being engaged isn't enough for Elsa. She says we have to be married first," said Kristoff, rolling his eyes.

"Good thing she only has ice powers and not clairvoyant powers. We wouldn't want her to know what we get up to when you sneak into my room," Anna said, giggling.

"Or when you sneak into mine." Kristoff released Anna and took her by the hand, and the two of them walked down the corridor in companionable silence, both thinking of the hours they had spent in each other's arms – and the nights they would spend there once Elsa had gone.

The two of them stopped before a magnificent set of double doors, which were painted white and decorated with an intricate snowflake pattern. Without bothering to knock, Anna threw open one of the doors and burst into the room. "Elsa! We're here to say goodbye before you – oh, no!"

The central feature of the chamber was an enormous canopy bed, upon which were stacked piles and piles of neatly folded gowns, skirts, blouses, and - to Kristoff's great embarrassment - undergarments. A massive leather trunk – completely empty – sat at the foot of the bed. Standing next to it was Anna's sister, Elsa, a slight young woman with very pale skin and a single platinum blond braid hanging halfway down her back. She was gazing down into the trunk and wringing her hands, her expression distressed.

"Elsa! You were supposed to be packed and ready to leave!" said Anna, smacking herself in the forehead.

Elsa turned to her sister with wide, frightened eyes. "I can't do it, Anna. I can't go."

"Told ya," gloated Kristoff under his breath.

Anna elbowed him in the ribs. "Of course you can! You're going to have a wonderful time in Corona."

"But it's for two weeks!" Elsa cried. "How can I leave Arendelle for two entire weeks? I mean, we just re-opened trade with Weselton, and the Royal Navy has a new ship that needs christening, and you – " A few snowflakes began to dance in the air above Elsa's head. Although the queen was far better at controlling her icy powers than she had been three years ago, she still tended to create minor flurries in times of distress.

"Elsa! Look at what you're doing!" Anna pointed up at the snowflakes, then put her hands on her elder sister's shoulders as if to steady her. "We'll be fine. _Everything_ will be fine. You can christen the ship when you get back, and you've left your instructions for the Weselton thingy – "

"Trade agreement!"

"-and Kai and Gerda will be here to make sure everything runs smoothly in the castle. Besides, Rapunzel and Eugene are expecting you. You don't want to let them down, do you?"

At that, Elsa's stiff shoulders relaxed very slightly. If there was anything she hated to do, it was let people down. "No, I –"

"And the ship is manned and ready to set sail for Corona. The crew have worked so hard to get it ready for you. You don't want all their work to be wasted, do you?"

"No, I – "

"And it'll only take me a second to re-pack all your clothes. Look, I bet I can do it even faster than Gerda!" Anna grabbed the nearest stack of clothing and shoved it haphazardly into the trunk, then began to do the same with the other stacks. A pair of Elsa's white cotton underpants – "granny panties," as Anna called them – flopped off of one of the stacks and landed on the floor at Kristoff's feet. He grimaced and stepped away from them, a red flush spreading across his face.

Anna stuffed the last stack of clothing into the trunk, then snatched up the fallen panties from the floor and tossed them on top. "There!" she said triumphantly, dusting off her hands. "Now all I have to do is get – this – closed –" She tried to shut the lid of the trunk, but a velvet sleeve was hanging over one of its sides, preventing her from closing it. "Hmm...maybe if I sit on it – "

"Anna," said Kristoff gently, "let me do that." Gingerly, he plucked the stray sleeve from the side of the trunk and laid it atop the mountain of clothes, then forced the lid closed. The trunk's brass lock snapped shut with a metallic _click_.

"Thank you, Kristoff," said Elsa.

Anna gave a satisfied nod. "See? All packed and ready to go. You can't back out now," she said.

Elsa sighed. "I suppose I can't."

Anna clapped her hands together. "Oh, I'm so glad! You need this vacation so badly, Elsa." To Kristoff, she turned and whispered, "Hah! You owe me forty kroner."

Elsa fixed her sister with a stern gaze. "But before I leave, we need to go over a few ground rules," she said, hands on hips. "Number one, no balls, celebrations or parties."

Anna pouted. "Not even a little one?"

"Not even a little one," said Elsa firmly. "Number two – and this concerns you as well, Kristoff – you need to remember that Sven is not allowed inside the palace – "

" – unless he's wearing a diaper," chorused Anna and Kristoff in unison.

"That's right. The cleaning staff were very upset about what happened last time."

"Sorry about that," said Kristoff sheepishly. "He's almost housebroken now, honest."

Elsa ignored him. "And number three: the two of you need to sleep in separate bedrooms."

Anna's face was wide-eyed and innocent. "We always do!" she chirped. Kristoff looked as though he wanted to agree, but he was overcome by a sudden fit of coughing.

When he had recovered, Kristoff stood and turned to Elsa. "Please don't worry, Your Maj – I mean, Elsa," he said. Even though he and Anna had been together for over three years, it was still difficult for him to call his royal almost-sister-in-law by her given name. "We'll make sure everything goes well." He offered Elsa his hand to shake, but to his surprise, she pulled him into a hug.

As she embraced him, Elsa whispered into his ear, "Don't let her do anything – "

"- crazy?" Kristoff whispered back, a goofy grin on his face. "I won't. I promise to keep her out of trouble."


	2. Chapter 2

Elsa gazed out the window. The sun was higher in the sky now, and the chirping of the birds in the pine tree outside her chamber had grown louder. "I suppose I'd best get ready to leave," she said. It was clear from her tone, and from the way her hands fiddled nervously with the hem of her blouse, that she remained unconvinced as to the wisdom of a vacation.

Kristoff hefted the enormous leather trunk onto his shoulder. "Please allow me to carry this to the dock for you," he said to Elsa. His manners had improved significantly over the past three years: the same etiquette tutor who had once instructed Elsa in protocol (and despaired over Anna's reluctance to acquire the same) had been summoned back to the castle to work with him, and he had proved a quick study. It was true that he still occasionally slurped his soup at the table, and true that Gerda had once had a conniption when he'd tracked mud all over the freshly waxed floor in the Great Hall; other than that, however, his demeanor had become nearly indistinguishable from that of a minor nobleman or a member of the high landed gentry.

With Elsa in the lead, the three of them made their way down the corridor. Although Kristoff did not exactly struggle with the heavy trunk, he did not carry it as effortlessly as he might have several years ago. A faint red flush had crept over his face and his breathing was ever-so-slightly labored; the great strength and stamina that had been his when he had cut and carried blocks of ice for a living had begun to dwindle since he became a full-time resident of the royal palace. However, he had largely retained his muscular physique, and he had not gained the soft, slightly paunchy look that many strong men take on when they cease to do regular physical work.

When they reached the Great Hall, they saw that the entrance doors were already wide open. The sun outside was sparkling on the palace courtyard and on the stone bridge that led through the gates and down toward the harbor, and a crisp morning breeze was stirring the flags that lined the walkway. It was a perfect day for a sea voyage.

"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!"

A frantic voice echoed from one of the smaller side corridors that fed into the Great Hall. Elsa, Anna and Kristoff stopped in their tracks. If they hadn't known better, they would have said the voice belonged to Kai, the palace steward – but Kai was renowned for his unflappable nature. He had served the royal family of Arendelle since Elsa and Anna were children, and not once had either of them heard so much as the tiniest hint of agitation in his voice. Twin prickles of alarm crawled up the backs of the sisters' necks.

"Your Majesty!" It was indeed Kai, and he was beside himself. His normally neat fringe of auburn hair was in disarray and his waistcoat was open, flapping slightly as he ran toward them. He stopped in front of Elsa and made her a short bow, then bent over and put his hands on his knees to steady himself. A slight sheen of sweat glistened on his bald spot and he was panting to catch his breath.

"Kai! What on earth...?" Elsa asked.

"Your Majesty – Your Highness – Herr Bjorgman – all of you must come quickly," Kai gasped.

"Come where?"

"To – to the docks," panted the steward. He looked up at Elsa with panic in his eyes.

"The docks? Why? What has happened?"

"An envoy ship has arrived...from the Southern Isles."

The Southern Isles? Elsa, Anna and Kristoff stiffened almost in perfect unison. Three years ago, Hans, the youngest of the Southern Isles' thirteen princes, had left Anna to freeze to death and attempted to assassinate Elsa in an attempt to seize Arendelle's throne for himself. He had failed and been sent back to his own country in disgrace. The heinousness of his crime was so great that it warranted profuse personal apologies from no one less than Hans's eldest brother - King Haakon of the Southern Isles – himself, and yet all that had ever come was a short, curt note from the king's secretary expressing his regret at the "unfortunate incident," and reassuring Elsa that Hans would be punished. No communication regarding the nature of the punishment had ever been sent, and trade between Arendelle and the Southern Isles had declined to almost nothing since then. The unannounced arrival of an envoy from Hans's country was highly unexpected – and highly suspicious.

Her head held high, Elsa picked up the hem of her skirt and began to stride briskly across the Great Hall. "Hurry. We must see what this is all about. Kristoff, you may leave my trunk here."

"Your Majesty – wait! There is something you must know before you meet with the emissary," said Kai, still trying to catch his breath. "I have asked him to wait for you at the docks, but – "

Just then, there was a scream and a mighty crash from the vicinity of the oaken doors which led from the Great Hall out into the palace courtyard. The royal party looked up to see Gerda, the head of the palace's housekeeping staff, sprawled on the floor in a dead faint. She had been carrying a glass vase filled with flowers, which had fallen with a great _clang_ when she went down. Flowers and shattered glass littered the tiles around her, and water from the broken vase was spreading across the floor in a shimmering puddle.

Two men dressed in the livery of the Southern Isles' royal family were standing at the threshold of the palace, a few feet away from where Gerda had fainted. They were struggling to keep their grip on a third man, all in rags, whom they held between them. The ragged man was twisting and writhing in their grasp, trying with all his might to get loose.

"I'm so sorry, sir!" one of the men in livery said to Kai. His expression was distressed as he fought desperately to hold on to the ragged man. "I know you asked us to wait at the docks, but as soon as we opened his cabin, he tried to run! We had to catch him – we couldn't let anything happen to him –" At the sight of Elsa, he stopped speaking and dropped to one knee, his head bowed. His liveried companion did likewise, pulling the man in rags down with them.

But the man in rags raised his head, and for the first time, Elsa, Anna and Kristoff were able to see his face. He was as thin as a skeleton, and his cheekbones seemed to poke through his wraith-white, near-translucent skin. His strawberry-blond hair – the same colour as Anna's – was shaggy and overgrown, and his beard was matted and filthy. Yet there could be no mistaking his distinctive, imperious nose, and his dark eyes – though they seemed haunted and mad, like the eyes of a wild animal – were eyes that Elsa and Anna knew as well as they knew each other's.

A hush fell over the crowd in the Great Hall. For a moment, it seemed as though time itself had stopped and was hanging, frozen, in the air.

Then Elsa took the tiniest of steps forward, toward the man in rags. She clutched at the bodice of her dress, then spoke a single, trembling word:

"P-Papa?"


	3. Chapter 3

*****AUTHOR'S NOTE: Wow! Thank you so much for all the follows, favs, and especially the REVIEWS! Your kind words and enthusiasm for this story are making me glow inside.**

**I have a better idea as to where the story is going now, so I should be able to update it more frequently. Keep those reviews coming – they are wonderful!*****

The man in rags gave no sign that he had heard Elsa speak. He continued to fight against the Southern Isles guardsmen holding him down, his twig-thin limbs twisting as they gripped him ever more tightly. He struggled with ferocious strength for a man who looked as though he had not eaten in weeks.

Anna stared at him for a long moment, her eyes wide and incredulous. Then realization seemed to wash over her, and a smile of the purest, brightest joy illuminated her face.

"Papa!" she cried. "Oh, Papa! You're alive! You're alive! You're...you're HOME!" She ran to the ragged man and wrapped him in a fierce, ecstatic hug.

But the man did not return her embrace. Instead, he shrank back from her and let out a howl – a long, terrified, unearthly howl that sounded more animal than human. Startled, Anna released him and drew back.

"P-Papa?" she ventured. "Papa, it's me, Anna! And Elsa's here too – look!" She pointed at Elsa, who was standing by herself, twisting the fabric of her skirt between her hands. "Don't you – don't you recognize us? You're home, Papa! Look! Kai is here, and – "

Kristoff came up behind his fiancée and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Anna," he whispered, "look at him. He's – he's not there."

The king was no longer howling, but his mouth remained open, frozen in a silent scream. A thin trickle of saliva issued from one corner of his mouth and dribbled onto the collar of his filthy shirt. His unfocused eyes darted this way and that, as frantic as a grasshopper trapped in a jar.

Anna watched him for a moment, then looked pleadingly at Kristoff. "What's wrong with him?" she asked, her voice quivering.

"I don't know," Kristoff admitted. "I've – I've never seen anything like this before."

Just then, and without warning, the king lunged forward, finally breaking free of the guardsmen's grasp. He ran the length of the Great Hall, then made a dash for one of the corridors.

"STOP HIM!" roared the taller of the two guardsmen. Two of the palace butlers heard his shout; moving as one, they tackled the fleeing man and wrestled him to the ground. The shorter of the Southern Isles guardsmen ran to him and placed him in a tight chokehold. The king's face purpled and his eyes seemed to protrude from his head as he fought against the muscled arm pressing down on his carotid artery, but lack of blood soon overtook him and he went limp. With a sigh of relief, the guardsman and the two butlers set him gently on the floor, turning his face to one side.

Anna gazed down at her unconscious father. Her lip trembled and she burst into tears, throwing herself against Kristoff's chest. The ice harvester folded her into his arms and held her as she wept, softly stroking her back as heartbroken sobs racked her entire body.

Suddenly, the air was rent by another earsplitting shriek – but this time, it did not come from the ragged man. Instead, it came from Elsa.

The queen's head was back, her eyes were squeezed shut, and her clawed hands were pressed against her face. A terrible, sustained scream poured unceasingly from her gaping mouth – a scream that seemed to make the air itself vibrate. A cold, bitter wind began to whirl inside the Great Hall, carrying with it the snowflakes that were beginning to materialize out of nowhere.

Anna pulled herself away from Kristoff and ran to her sister. "Elsa!" she cried. "Elsa, what's wrong?"

She put her hands on Elsa's shoulders and gave her the gentlest of shakes, but the queen did not react; her piercing, drawn-out scream continued to reverberate throughout the hall as she dug her fingernails into the flesh of her cheeks. Ice was crawling up the walls, stiffening the tapestries and coating the windows in a layer of translucent frost. The two Southern Isles guardsmen gazed up at it in disbelief from their places by the fallen king's side.

Kristoff darted over to the two sisters. "Your Majesty," he said to Elsa, his voice loud and urgent. "Elsa, please. ELSA!"

When she failed once again to respond, Kristoff – apparently acting without conscious thought, without intention – drew back one of his great ice-harvester's hands and slapped Elsa full in the face. The force of the blow sent her reeling. As she stumbled backward, her heel caught on the hem of her long dress, sending her crashing to the floor. Her screaming ceased as soon as she hit the ground, and the furious blizzard that had just moments ago been whipping through the room stopped as abruptly as it had begun.

Once again, there was absolute silence in the Great Hall. It was a grievous crime for a commoner – even a commoner engaged to a princess - to strike the Queen of Arendelle, and the gathered crowd waited with bated breath to see how Elsa would react.

For a moment, the queen did nothing but rub her cheek, which was reddening where Kristoff had slapped her. Then she looked up at him.

"Thank you," she said, shaking her head as if to clear it. "I – I don't know what came over me." Still seated on the floor, she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply through her nose, her brow furrowed in concentration. The ice that had covered the walls and floors began to recede, shrinking and shrinking until it was nothing but a tiny frozen puddle at Elsa's feet. She waved her hand, and the puddle evaporated in a glimmer of bluish light. The last few snowflakes that had been dancing in the air vanished without a trace.

"I'm so sorry, Your Majesty – Elsa – but I didn't know what else to do," said Kristoff, offering the queen his hand. She accepted it and allowed him to help her feet.

"No, Kristoff, you don't need to apologize. You did the right thing," said Elsa, dusting herself off. She looked down at the inert body of her father, who was still lying prone on the floor between the two liverymen.

A moan came from behind them; the housekeeper, Gerda, had begun to stir. Two of her subordinate maids rushed to help her sit up.

Elsa looked first at Anna, then at Kristoff, and then down at the King once more. She bit her lip, apparently unsure of what to do next.

Kristoff saw her distress. "Elsa," he said gently, "your father needs a doctor right away. So does Gerda." He put his arms around Anna, who was wiping the last of her tears away with the heel of her hand.

Elsa nodded. "A doctor," she echoed. "Y-yes...of course. Kai, please send for the Royal Physician and his assistant immediately." The steward, who had been hovering anxiously near the royal party, hurried off to carry out the queen's orders, moving as quickly as his stout form would allow.


End file.
